LIBRARY OF CONGRESS « 



9 605 228 8 



01 



Parent-Teacher Associations 



By 
EDITH E. HOYT 

Instructor in Education 



Department of Debating and Public Discussion 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DIVISION ^ 

The University of Wisconsin 
MADISON 




BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 
Serial No. 1030, General Series No. 814 

« 
Price 10 cents 



Wonograpfi 



INDEX 



Page 

Aid Offered 30 

Bureau of Community Development 31 

Bureau of Instruction by Lectures 81 

Bureau of Visual Instruction 32 

Department of Debating and Public Discussion 30 

Better Schools 6 

Bibliography 32 

Cautions, Two 12 

Constitution 11 

Forum Teaching 24 

Americanization 26 

Child Welfare 25 

Community Recreation 24 

Home Economics 28 

Public Health 29 

Sex Hygiene 27 

General Community Betterment 7 

Outlines for Guided Study 36 

Parent-Teacher Associations : 

How to Organize 9 

Need of 4 

Organization of 9 

Plans of Work 16 

In School 17 

In Community 19 

Club Study Subjects 21 

Purpose 4 

Results Obtained 13 

Three Lines of Effort 16 

Rural Parent-Teacher Associations 22 

War Time Activities 15 

What Parent-Teacher Association is not 5 



f>. Of D. 

' '^AV 29 1920 



2 — 






Department of Debating and Public Discussion 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DIVISION 

The University of Wisconsin 



Administrative Staff 



Edward A. Birge, Ph. D., iSc. D., LL. D., 
President of the University 

Louis E. Reber, M. S., Sc. D., % 
Dean, University Extension Division 

Almere L. Scott, B. A., 
Secretary, Department of Debating and Public Discussion 



Parent-Teacher Associations 

(Copyriglited, March 1918.) 

By Edith E. Hoyt 

The movement toward community organization has 
gained ranch impetus during the past two or three 
years. The World War has emphasized anew the truth 
that the organized community is the means through 
which not only great national undertakings can be car- 
ried out, but that such communities are also the ones 
which can best serve their own local needs and most 
successfully solve their own special problems. 

The coming of peace has not lessened the need for 
community organization and cooperation. After so vast 



an upheaval a^^ the late war, society will not quickly nor 
easily regain its equilibrium. In general, it may be said 
that for most communities the problems now confront- 
ing them are more perplexing and difficult than those 
brought about hj the war. The need for a spirit of 
tolerance and understanding and friendly cooperation 
in every community was never so great as today. 

Of the various forms of community organization, the 
parent-teacher association occupies a position both 
unique and indispensable. It is unique because it is the 
only organization whose members belong to it whether 
they join it or not. They belong, not because of their 
own interests nor to serve their own ends; they belong 
because they are related to children either as parents 
or guardians or grandparents or friends or teachers. 
Ever since schools were established, parents and teachers 
have been associated, even though they ignored or criti- 
cised one another. 

But the time has come when this association of 
teacher and parent can no longer be incidental or ac- 
cidental; it must become conscious and vital and con- 
crete for the sake of the children. Such organizations 
are indispensable to every community and should exist 
in every school whether it be rural, village, or city 
school. Since the home and the school are the agencies 
which share in the training of children, they should cer- 
tainly cooperate in that training ; they cannot afford to 
work at cross-purposes, nor to regard one another with 
indifference or hostility. 

Purpose 

The ultimate purpose of parent-teacher associations 
is, of course, the welfare and successful training of the 
children of the school. But the more immediate pur- 

— 4 — 



pose is the creating of a means or vehicle by which the 
communitj^ can come into constructive relationship with 
the school in practical ways, and by hearty and sincere 
cooperation with teachers and school boards provide 
means and stimulus for the greater effectiveness of the 
school plant. Moreover, the parent-teacher association 
is in a sense a clearing-house of information between 
parents and teachers. It enlightens the parents as to 
the needs of the school, the difficulties the teacher has 
to confront, and the kind of surroundings in which the 
child spends his school life. On the other hand, it 
enables the teacher to come into a more helpful and 
sympathetic attitude tow^ard her individual pupils 
through contact with their parents. Nothing so easily 
clears up misunderstanding and suspicion a? frank, in- 
formal conferences between persons out of harmony 
with one another, and this unfortunate condition often 
obtains between teachers and parents. 

What the Parent-Teacher Association is Not 

The parent-teacher association is not in any sense an 
organization whose function it is to sit in judgment 
upon the academic work of the school, or to interfere in 
its methods of instruction or administration. The quali- 
fications of teachers in Wisconsin are carefully pre- 
scribed' by law ; ample and excellent provision is made 
for the training of teachers by the state; and the pro- 
fessional wo];k of teachers is constantly scrutinized by 
competent inspectors from the State Department of 
Education. It would be well for the children of our 
state if parents as a rule possessed a corresponding in- 
sight into the nature and needs of children and youth 
and the same intelligent devotion toward meeting those 



needs that most teachers show. There have been in- 
stances, fortunately rare, where the parent-teacher as- 
sociation has meddled inexcusably with the academic 
work of the school ; where it has discussed the dismissal 
or retention of teachers; or where it has used political 
methods to determine the personnel of the school board. 
This is plainly an unwarranted and improper use to 
make of the organization. 

Again, the parent-teacher association is not an ex- 
clusive club, dominated by the socially elect, and used 
to further the social ambitions of a few leaders. The 
schools are for all the children of all the people, and 
the parent-teacher association is for all the parents and 
friends of all the children and youth in the community. 
It is, therefore, the organization above all others that 
touches impartially every home; for it invites into its 
membership not only parents but everyone interested 
in children and youth. It is the one really democratic 
society in many communities ; for it sets up no barriers 
whatever to membership. 

Associations are Community Organizations for Better Schools 

' It has just been said that the work of parent-teacher 
associations is done outside the classrooms; and its in- 
fluence is indirect as far as the actual instruction of 
children is concerned. But it must not be forgotten 
that every forward step in education has come about 
because of the enlightened interest and cooperation of 
people outside the school, who, in conjunction with 
teachers and boards of education, have provided means 
for larger educational advantage than would be possible 
to provide for at once out of the ordinary school 
funds. But when the parents of the community have 

— 6 — 



understood and realized the value of the new opportu- 
nity for their children they have willingly taxed them- 
selves to provide it. For example, in. this way the 
kindergarten has become an integral part of many school 
systems in our state. Manual training and domestic 
science, the vacation school, medical inspection, the 
school nurse, the dental clinic, playgrounds, the open air 
school, school gardens, and other opportunities indis- 
pensable to the sound training of children, have by out- 
side help become incorporated into many schools. These 
things can be had by any community if only the parents 
and friends of children will cooperate with the teachers 
and the school board to secure them. 

These, then, are some of the prime functions of the 
parent-teacher society : to make possible ne\^ departures 
in the educational field; to provide means for the en- 
larging and enriching of school opportunity for the chil- 
dren of its community; to add to the scholastic regimen 
opportunity for physical and social development. 

May Serve Also for Community Betterment 

Through the parent-teacher association two other 
kinds of activity can be carried on, each of Avhich is of 
the utmost importance and value in the guidance of 
children and youth. 

First, the parent-teacher association may become the 
means of a general awakening of interest in community 
betterment. Through such an organization the great 
questions of amusement, recreation, vocational guidance, 
public health and sanitation, and many other matters 
which can be properly handled only through community 
cooperation, may be discussed and working plans for 
improvement in all these matters put into operation. 

The subject of amusement and recreation for the 



yoiHig people of a community is one of its most vital 
problems whether these young people are all in school 
or not. One of the most valuable services a community 
organization can perform is to serve as a means for 
providing and directing the recreational activities of 
its youth. 

The parent-teacher association can easily become the 
nucleus of musical and dramatic clubs and thus reach 
a larger public and secure a greater influence than it 
could otherwise hope for. The importance of stimulat- 
ing and directing community interest in music and 
drama cannot be overestimated. Of all the fine arts 
these two are the most universal in their appeal and 
democratic in their effect. Community efforts in the 
developing and directing of interest in these two great 
arts are sure to be richly rewarded. Such efforts bring 
together in natural and friendly ways all classes and 
conditions of people, and thus foster community spirit. 
They serve to discover and develop talent which would 
otherwise remain unknown and wasted. They also 
afford an incomparable means of wholesome enjoy- 
ment and recreation for those who participate in the 
singing or the acting, as well as for those who are 
spectators or auditors merely. In this way the parent- 
teacher association may prepare the way for larger 
community cooperation and may become the forerunner 
of the social center or the community center. 

In the second place, small groups within the parent- 
teacher association may undertake the serious study of 
problems affecting children and youth, and may pursue 
organized consecutive courses in child study and kindred 
subjects for the sake of self -improvement, and to be- 
come more efficient parents and better citizens.^ 



1 See pag-e 36 of this bulletin. 

— 8 — 



Organization 

The rallying point of each parent-teacher associa- 
tion should be a specific school building. It may be the 
rural schoolhouse or the ward school in a city, but it 
should always comprise neighborhood groups — ^those 
who send their children to the same building, and the 
teachers in that building; for such a group has com- 
mon problems. It might be well, perhaps, where the 
high school is in the same building with the lower grades, 
to have two such organizations, one for the high school, 
and one for the grades below it ; for the problems of the 
high school are quite different from those of the grades, 
and require different treatment and a somewhat dif- 
ferent point of view. But where two orgaijizations are 
thus found necessary, they may often unite in their 
meetings, and may cooperate in whatever pertains to 
the general interest of all the pupils of the building. 

While the parents of children actually in school will 
naturally be the largest factors in such organizations, 
and teachers are of course expected to belong to them, 
other adult citizens living in the neighborhood who 
have no children in any of the schools represented 
should be urged to ally themselves with the parent- 
teacher organizations. Such people are of the very 
greatest service, partly because they frequently have 
more leisure than busy fathers and mothers, and partly 
because they can bring to discussions of school problems 
a dispassionate attitude which many parents are unable 
to take. 

How to Organize 

Assuming that in any community a number of pro- 
gressive people (always including the head of the 
schools) have agreed upon the desirability of forming 



a parent-teacher association, we turn next to a discus- 
sion of the method by which this can be most effectively 
accomplished. An evening meeting should be held, if 
possible, so that the men of the community can attend; 
and a date selected that will not encroach upon other 
regular social or religious gatherings. Invitations to 
attend this meeting should be sent hy means of the 
children to the parents of every child in the school dis- 
trict or ward, and these invitations should clearly state 
the purpose of the meeting. 

In some cases a speaker from outside may be obtained 
to set forth the need and purposes of such an organiza- 
tion; but this is not at all essential. Often some one 
in the community who is a ready speaker can present 
the matter far more effectively than can a stranger 
with no knowledge of local conditions. Music will add 
greatly to the success of the meeting, and the help of 
local musicians should always be secured. It is espe- 
cially desirable that some community singing also be 
had, at least to the extent of one or two patriotic songs. 

After music and a brief address on what parent- 
teacher associations are and why they are needed, the 
meeting should be thrown open for an informal discus- 
sion ; several people should be ready to speak by previous 
arrangement, and the ice having been broken, the fullest 
and freest discussion should follow. After this the 
chairman of the meeting (who is usually, and most ap- 
propriately, the head of the schools) should take a viva 
voce vote of the meeting as to the desirability of or- 
ganizing a parent-teacher society. Then, when the 
meeting has committed itself to the undertaking, an or- 
ganization should be effected. A committee should be 
appointed to draw up a constitution, and when it is 



10 



adopted, officers should be elected in accordance with 
its provisions. 

The following constitution, recommended by the Wis- 
consin Branch of the National Congress of Mothers,^ is 
admirable in its simplicity and sufficient as a basis for 
any such organization. 

Constitution of Parent-Teacher Association 

Article I 

This society shall be called the Parent-Teacher Asso- 
ciation of the School. 

Article II ^ 

Its object shall be better mutual understanding be- 
tween parents and teachers and their cooperation in all 
work for the interest of the children. 

Article III 

Anyone interested in the purpose for which the club 
is organized is qualified for membership. 

Article IV 

The officers of the club shall be a President, a Vice- 
President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, elected an- 
nually at the meeting of the year. 

Article V 

Regular meetings of the club shall be held on the 
afternoon (or evening) of each month. 



Special meetings by order of 



2 See Tear Book, 1918. 

— 11 — 



Article VI 

This constitution may be amended at any annual 
meeting or by unanimous consent at any regular meet- 
ing when previous notice has been given. 

By-laws and Committees 

The By-Laws should contain standing rules of the 
society of such importance that they should be placed 
out of the power of any one meeting to modify, as dues, ^ 
duties of officers, method of election, etc. 

One of the by-laws should specify a number of stand- 
ing committees to serve for six months or a year, through 
whom much of the practical work of the association is 
carried on. The following committees are recom- 
mended as essential in any community; more may be 
added to advantage under some circumstances. 

1. Committee to confer with teachers as to problems 
and needs of various schools. These conferences may be 
informal, out of school hours, or regular visits to the 
schools in session. 

2. Committee on program for monthly meetings, in- 
cluding music. 

3. Committee on social activities of the community, 
including amusements and recreation. 

4. Committee on safeguarding the general welfare 
and health of school children. 

These committees should report at each meeting ; and, 
through these reports ap.d the discussions following 
them, the association as a whole should come into close 
and sympathetic connection with the school. 

Two Cautions 

It may not be out of plaCe to add two cautions which 
the parent-teacher organization would do well to heed: 

— 12 — 



^ 



First, much, of the success of the organization depends 
upon the kind of officers first selected. They should 
be chosen with care and not at haphazard upon the 
spur of the moment. 'The officers should represent 
widely different interests and yet they should be capable 
people in whom all have confidence. While the school 
principal or some well-known and highly respected 
teacher should have a place among the officers, it is 
usually best to have a school patron for president. 

Second, the parent-teacher association has not justi- 
fied its existence when it confines its activities to hold- 
ing meetings once a month. It is a working organiza- 
tion and its success is to be measured in terms of the 
actual constructive work it does in the community con- 
tinuously in behalf of its children and yo»th. There 
is no virtue in getting together merely to listen to a 
speaker who knows little or nothing of conditions in 
the town ; or to hear and see a musical or dramatic pro- 
gram prepared by the school. These things are well 
in their place and of occasional value, but they are not 
the real activities of an alert and progressive parent- 
teacher organization. 

What Some Parent-Teacher Associations Have Done 

It may be of value to suggest briefly some of the con- 
structive activities carried on by parent-teacher organ- 
izations in our own state. 

They have taken over and carried on the Avork of 
school gardens; they have bought vietrolas and player 
pianos for their schools, and lanterns and moving pic- 
ture machines so that the schools might have the benefit 
of the film service offered by the Extension Division; 
they have equipped playgrounds; they have provided 
facilities for domestic science and manual training; 

— 13 — 



they have undertaken community dances, and commu- 
nity festivals and pageants ; they have taken up seriously 
the problem of moving picture shows and have brought 
about greatly improved conditions in many commu- 
nities; they have been instrumental in providing school 
lunches, medical inspection, the school nurse, the dental 
clinics. These are some of the more obvious and spec- 
tacular activities of parent-teacher associations in Wis- 
consin. But in more indirect and subtle ways they 
have worked constructively in the interest of children 
and youth, and for better feeling and understanding 
between the school, the parents, and the children. 

One valuable kind of help that such associations may 
confer upon parents should not be overlooked. For the 
solving of the most difficult problems parents have, the 
problems relating to the training of youth, can be 
greatly assisted if parents will cooperate, and agree upon 
a definite policy which all will pursue. If the parents 
of one high school pupil debar him or her rigorously 
from public dances, nightly visits to movies, and other 
doubtful forms of recreation, while all the other parents 
permit these things, the pupil thus deprived is quite 
likely to rebel under the restrictions and to be regarded 
with pitying superiority by the others. It is very hard 
indeed for one family to hold out against the practices 
of all the rest; but parents who get together on this 
important question of the recreation of high school 
pupils, and formulate a definite policy to which all will 
adhere, may, to a large extent, solve the whole problem. 

One further advantage that parent-teacher organiza- 
tions offer to a community is this : they bring together 
in a friendly spirit people who would never come to 
know one another. There are many things to separate 
people in the same community; conflicting business in- 

— 14 — 



terests, differences in politics, religion, nationality, and 
social status. The parent-teacher association ignores all 
differences and appeals to the commonest and most 
fundamental impulses in adult life, affection for chil- 
dren and youth and interest in what conserves their 
vvelfare. 

The parent-teacher organization is a great generator 
of social feeling and energy, which like the power of 
electricity may he turned into a thousand beneficent 
channels. In other words, this organization is so 
flexible and so democratic that it can turn its efforts 
into new and unexpected directions and keep pace with 
the needs of the time. 

Activities in War Time 

This is illustrated by the war activities of parent- 
teacher associations in our state. In many localities 
these organizations turned their entire attention to war 
needs and war work. They organized Junior Red Cross 
societies among the children in the grades; they be- 
came branches of th^ Eed Cross ; they had food demon- 
strations and were the means through which the propa- 
ganda of food conservation was disseminated; they 
sewed and knitted for the soldiers in training camps 
and abroad; they raised money in various ways for the 
help of the Red Cross and Allied Relief. Some of 
them organized garden clubs among the children to in- 
crease food production; thej were the means in some 
cases of bringing speakers into the community to set 
forth the meaning of the war and to interpret its sig- 
nificance as a vindication of democracy and humanity. 
This is perhaps the most striking illustration of the way 
in which the parent-teacher organization may, in times 

— 15 — 



of emergency, turn all its activities into new and neces- 
sary directions. 

Some of the activities of parent-teacher associations 
have been briefly indicated; but it may be well to add 
a somewhat detailed outline of plans of work possible 
to such organizations. 

It is evident that the work will depend to a large ex- 
tent upon the local situation. Community problems 
are always local, yet some general principles, derived 
from the experience of many such organizations, may 
be helpful and suggestive. 

Three Lines of Effort 

Three distinct lines of effort are open to parent- 
teacher associations. All of these are important, each 
will aid the others, and none will ever conflict with any 
of the others. These three lines of effort are as follows : 

First, work for the school. 

Second, work for general community betterment, es- 
pecially with reference to youths who are no longer in 
school. 

Third, serious study of the nature of childhood and 
youth, and problems pertaining to them; or of other 
problems of equal importance such as municipal or- 
ganization and government, and problems connected 
therewith. 

Plans of Work 

Following is an outline which is intended to be sug- 
gestive rather than complete, of some subjects for in- 
vestigation and some kinds of activities which parent- 
teacher associations may undertake to advantage. 

— 16 — 



I. The school. 

A. The external and physical characteristics of 

the school. 

1. School grounds, are they ample for 

play? Have they apparatus or other 
appliances for outdoor gymnastics? 
What improvements are obviously 
needed ? 

2. The building,— its heating, ventilation, 

toilet facilities, cleanliness, and gen- 
eral care may be investigated. 

3. Equipment for successful teaching. 

Study should be made of the lighting, 
seating, blackboard spacS, necessary 
appliances, general homelikeness, and 
cheer of the various rooms. 

4. Each teacher should be asked this ques- 

tion: What do you need most to 
make your work more effective? A 
list of real needs as teachers see them 
might be made the subject of investi- 
gation, and means taken to supply 
them. 

B. Organization and administration of the 

school. 
1. A general study may be made of the 
last school report. 
' 2. The school fund — how much; how great 
a proportion of the total tax; how 
divided and administered? 

3. How is the school board constituted ? Is 

there a woman on the school board? 

4. Are teachers adequately paid? 

— 17 — 



5. Get from the city superintendent or 

supervising principal a list of tlie 
most urgent needs of the school, and 
discuss the same. 

6. All schools should be visited regularly 

and reports made as to their needs 
and problems. 
C. Curriculum and management of the elemen- 
tary school. 

1. Are any children out of school who be- 

long there? Is there an attendance 
. ^ officer ? 

2. How many children repeated grades 

according to last report? 

3. Are defective children specially pro- 

vided for? Is there an ungraded 
room ? 

4. Do all children have training in music, 

drawing, domestic science, manual 
work, gymnastics? 

5. Is there medical and dental inspection? 

6. What vocational guidance if any does 

the school provide? 

7. A study should be made of 

a. The vacation school. 

b. The open air school. 

8. Nutrition of school children. 

a. The school lunch. 

b. Milk for school children. 

c. Providing scales for weighing 

school children. 

d. Record cards for physical meas- 

urements of school children. 

— 18— ' 



D. The high school. 
Some of the subjects most vital to the interests of the 
high school are as follows: 

1. The Junior high school. 

2. Music in the high school. The high 

school band or orchestra. 

3. High school athletics. 

4. Standardizing the dress of high school 

girls. 

5. High school parties. 

6. High school dramatics. 

7. Supervision of amusement and recrea- 

tion for high school pupils. 

8. Fetes, pageants, and folk dancing in 

the high school. ^ 

9. Vocational training in the high school. 
10. The simplifying of hi gh^ school com- 
mencements. 

II. The community. 

The second large division of the possible activities of 
a parent-teacher association has to do with the com- 
munity. The school is only one community enterprise, 
though the greatest and most important. But indirectly 
the school is a reflection of the standards of the com- 
munity, and cannot rise much higher than they do. 
Some vital community subjects are as follows: 
A. Public health. 

1. Clean streets. 

2. Efficient health officer; the visiting 

nurse. 

3. Safe water supply. 

4. Some pure food legislation. 

5. Conditions in bakeries and meat markets. 

6. Sewage disposal. 

— 19 — 



7. Garbage disposal. 

8. Pure milk. 

B. Public morals. 

1. The proper lighting of streets and parks. 

2. The need of a police matron. 

3. The supervision of public dances. 

4. The motion picture show. 

5. Are the ordinances strictly enforced? 

6. The juvenile court. 

7. The probation officer. 

C. Public safety — safety-first movement. 

1. Desirable automobile and motorcycle 

regulations. 

2. Special provision for the safety of 

school grounds. 

3. Provisions for enabling every child to 

learn to swim, and for first aid to the 
injured. 

D. Public recreation. 

1. Community dances. 

2. Community fetes, pageants, and the 

community Christmas, and other fes- 
tivals. 

3. Public parks and facilities for bathing, 

rowing, skating, and coasting are a 
necessity in any progressive com- 
munity. 
III. Club study for mothers. 

The third kind of activity which may be fostered by 
a parent-teacher association is the serious study by 
small groups of mothers of the various problems per- 
taining to childhood and youth. This kind of work 
will of necessity be pursued by mothers rather than 
fathers for the most part, and it should be carried on 

— 20 — 



as an adjunct to the more obvious and public work of 
the organization. Small groups of mothers, not to ex- 
ceed fifteen or twenty, may meet once in two weeks or 
once a month for such work. A study club of this kind 
has a threefold value. It is in the direction of self- 
improvement; it will make mothers more alert, intelli- 
gent, and efficient in the training of their children; 
and it v/ill bring together in an informal and sociable 
connection women who are interested in the same prob- 
lems and seeking the same ends, but who often are 
separated from one another by conventional barriers of 
nationality, religion, or social stratification. 

CLUB STUDY SUBJECTS * 

Two large general subjects should occupy the atten- 
tion of such mothers ' clubs, viz. : 

I. The physical welfare and care of children and 
youth. 

1. Stages of growth and physical development. 

2. Dietaries suited to various stages. 

3. The school lunch. 

4. The care of children's teeth. 

5. Gymnastics and athletics suitable to various 

ages. 

6. Sex hygiene. 

II. The mental and moral training of children and 
youth. 

1. Stages of mental growth and development. 

2. A study of human instincts. 

3. How children learn. 

4. Habit formation. 

5. Some fundamentals of good character. 

6. Some common faults of children. 

— 21 — 



7. The possibilities and perils of the adolescent 
period. 

As has been indicated previously, the scheme eutlined 
above is intended to be suggestive rather than arbitrary. 
It is presented as a basis from which divergence and 
adaptation may be made. Every community has its 
own specific problems. Much depends upon the size 
of the place; the kinds of industry predominating; the 
characteristics of the population, whether homogeneous 
in nationality, religion, and social traditions, or highly 
diversified in culture, religious affiliations, and econo- 
mic conditions. 

But all communities are alike in this: they have a 
vast responsibility toward the children and youth in 
their midst, and it is in the hope of assisting them 
somewhat to discharge their obligation that this bulle- 
tin has been prepared. For no community is so in- 
different that it cannot be aroused to better things ; and 
to accomplish this three things are needed. 

First, the community must learn to see its defects, 
and recognize its needs. 

Second, it must get together. The various elements 
composing it must sink their differences and cooperate 
with loyalty and persistence toward the common end. 

Third, there must be competent, unselfish leadership. 

Since the strictly rural community has problems 
peculiarly its own, there is herewith appended a list 
of topics especially adapted for discussion and study 
by such clubs. 

TOPICS FOR RURAL PARENT-TEACHER CLUBS 

Sanitation of the schoolhouse^ how may its ventila- 
tion, lighting, heating, and toilet' facilities be improved? 

— 22 — 



School water silpply — ^well or cistern. 

School lunches. 

How may the school grounds be improved ? 

How may simple and inexpensive playground equip- 
ment be provided ? 

How may sewing and cooking be introduced into a 
rural school? 

How may elemjentary niianual training be introduced 
into a rural school? 

Why and how /should provision be made in the rural 
school for play and recreation ? 

What should growing children eat? 

The value of school gardens and school agriculture. 
-Organizing school agricultural contests such as corn 
growing, and potato raising, tomato clubs, and bread 
clubs. I 

Training girls to help in the home, 
y Giving school credit for work done at home. 

How to keep children well ; the cause and prevention 
of childhood ailments such as colds, headache, coughs, 
and communicable diseases. 

First aid to the injured; what to do in common ac- 
cidents. 

Teaching boys and girls to save. 

How can the school libraryJbe_improved ? 

The visiting nurse in rural communities. 



FORUMJTEACHING 

In some communities where club study groups are not 
practicable, the parent-teacher association may take up 
under local leadership general discussions of questions 
concerned with community problems, especially those 
affecting the welfare of children and youth. At a gen« 

— 23 — 



era! meeting held in the evening if possible, a talk can 
be given by some person in the community qualified to 
do so, setting forth the general facts and principles of 
the subject under discussion, after which the meeting 
should be thrown open for free and informal discus- 
sion. Any subject of general or local interest may be 
discussed by this method of forum teaching; but there 
are some subjects of paramount importance upon which 
all communities should be informed. Outlines are here- 
with given upon six such subjects. These are Community 
Recreation, Child Welfare, Americanization, Sex Hy- 
giene, Home Economics, and Public Health. 

Outlines for Forum Teaching 

Community Recreation 

(Prepared by Professor E. B. Gordon, Chief, Bureau of 
Community Development.) 

1. The BelaUon of Eecreation to Life. 

General discussion of the problem of leisure with special 
reference to the social and educational value. 

2. The Eecreation Movement. 

Survey of the social settlement, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., 
and the Institutional Church as agencies for the 
promotion of organized recreation. 

3. The Eecreation Movement (Continued). 

The Playground Association of America as an agency for 
the promotion of organized recreation. 

4. The Eecreation Movement (Continued). 

Wider use of the school plant and the community center 
as agencies for the promotion of organized recrea- 
tion. 

5. The Socialized School. 

New emphasis upon training for the social relationship 
and the leisure occupation through the development 
of group activities. 

6. Community Music. 

A reaction against over-emphasis upon professionalism. 
The value of music as a social agency. 

— 24 — 



7. Community Drama. 

A movement for developing a large participation in the 
pleasures of dramatic expression. Pageantry and 
community festival work and their use in the pro- 
motion of community cooperation and good citizen 
ship. 

8. Becreation in the American Army. 

Eecognition of the value of wholesome recreation by the 
U. S. War Department — organization and activities 
of the Fosdick Commission on Training Camp Ac- 
tivities. 

9. Importance of Becreation as an After-war Prohlem. 

Obligation to the returning soldier — the passing of the 
saloon, and the social approach to the problem of 
Americanization. 
10. A Community Program \of Becreation. 

A survey of the local community and the outlining of a 
plan for the correlation of the various recreational 
interests for the development of a constructive pro- 
gram of community leisure involving %he schools, 
community centers, various social, musical, and dra- 
matic groups. 



Child Welfare 

(Prepared by Edith E. Hoyt.) 

I. Health. 

1. Of Children. 

a. Nutrition with special reference to milk for 

growing children. 

b. Contagion — communicable diseases of childhood 

and their prevention. 

c. Tuberculosis in children. 

d. Removal and correction of physical defects, such 

as enlarged tonsils, adenoids, spinal curva- 
ture, crippled conditions, defective vision and 
hearing, defective teeth. 

e. The clinic and the health conference. 

2. Of Youth. 

a. The physical dangers of adolescence due to 

rapid growth, and the development of latent 
tendencies to tuberculosis. 

b. Federal and state campaign against social di- 

seases. 

— 25 — 



II. Becreation for Children, 

1. The playground movement. 

2. The problem of the movies. 

III. Thrift. 

1. School and home gardens. 

2. School savings banks. 

3. The thrift campaign of the Federal Department of 

Education. 

4. Vocational guidance. 

5. Mothers' pensions. 

IV. Education. 

1. The ' ' Stay in School ' ' campaign. 

2. The reorganized school curriculum. 

3. The Junior high school. 

4. Projects in the elementary grades. 

5. Scholarships for gifted children. 
V. Delinquency in Children and Youth. 

1. The relation of mental defect to delinquency. 

2. Eecreation and delinquency. 

3. The juvenile court and probation. 

4. Compulsory education and the Child Labor Laws in 

Wisconsin. 



Americanization 

(Prepared by Professor D. D. Lescohier, Associate Professor 

of Economics.) 

1. Americanization. 

Introductory meeting explaining the idea of Americani- 
zation and bringing out the conceptions of different 
people. 
^. The Old Immigration. (Immigration 1820-1890.) 

Contributions of English, Irish, Scotch, Germans, Scan- 
dinavians, to our population, our institutions, oui 
culture, our political and social ideals, our economic 
devolopment. 

3. The New Immigration. (Immigration 1890-1919.) 

Racial composition of recent immigration, causes of their 
influx, their contributions to our economic, political, 
and social Jif e. 

4. The Baces of Soiith&rn Europe. 

Outstanding physical, mental, spiritual, educational, in- 
dustrial, domestic characteristics of Italians (North 
and South), Greeks, Spanish, Syrians, Jews. 

— 26 — 



5. The Balkan and Slavic Peoples. 

Some data on Jiigo-Slavs, Czecho-Slovaks, Albanians, 
Poles, Eussians, Eumanians, Montenegrins, Magyars. 

6. America's Need for Americanization. 

(1) National unity essential to national safety. 

(2) National unity essential to America's international 

relations. 

(3) National unity essential to democracy. 

(4) Contrast between European nationalism of selfish- 

ness and American nationalism of service. 

7. Obstacles to Americanization. 

8. Agencies of Americanization. 

9. A Community Program of Americanization. 
10. Women's Functions in Americanization. 



Sex Hygiene 
(Prepared by Wisconsin State Board of Health.) 

I. What is meant by sex education? 

Is there a relation between knowledge and moral behavior? 
Situation in schools, and children generally. 
Aims of sex education clearly defined. 

(Constructive and protective.) 
Why the homes have generally failed. 
Debate: Is ignorance or knowledge better? 

II. How to approach the subject with children. 
Age of child and types of questions. 
Dangers of early repressions. 
Common mistakes. 

How much should be told at one time. 

How the subject may be kept free from embarrassment, and 
restraint. 

III. The approach of puberty and the early teens. 
Age of change in boy and girl. 
Character of change in both body and mind. 
Differences in boys and girls. 
What both should know at this time. 
Eelation of school girl's dress to moral problem. 
Should there be evening parties? 
Eelation of delinquency to this age. 
Eecreations. Movies. 

What should be done for children whose parents refuse 
their responsibility? 

— 27 — 



Home Economics 

(Prepared by Emma Conley, In Charge of Home Economics, 
University Extension Division.) 

I. Profession of Home Making. • 

1. What the profession includes and what training is 

necessary. 

2. The servantless house. 

a. What reorganization or readjustment is nec- 

essary. 

b. The house or the apartment. 

c. Food preparation in or outside the home. 

3. System in the home. 

a. Planning the routine of work to minimize use 
of time, labor, and expenditure of money. 

4. Labor-saving devices. 

a. Collecting all available devices for exhibit. 

b. Comparison of those in use as to construc- 

tion, efficiency, utility, and economy. 

II. Business Management of Some. 

1. Keeping household accounts. 

a. Budgeting income. 

b. Investment of savings. 

2. Teaching thrift to children. 

III. The House. 

1. Planning the house. 

a. Selection of site, style of house, arrangement 
of rooms. 

2. Furnishing the house. 

a. Color schemes, selection and arrangement of 
furnishings. 

IV. Clothing the Faoyiily. 

1. Selection of clothing, home-made vs. ready-made. 

2. Good taste in dress, care of clothing, renovation. 
V. Feeding the Family. 

1. Care and feeding of infants. 

2. Diet for growing children. 

3. Adequate meals at moderate cost. 
VI. Lunches for School Children. 

1. Hot lunch in rural schools, 10:00 a. m. lunch and 

noon lunch in city schools. 
VII. Weighing and Measuring Children. 

1. Medical examination, health clinic, school nurse, 

food for the undernourished. 

— 28 — 



VIII. Home Care of the Sick. 

1. Diseases of children. 

2. Prevention of disease. 

a. Public health problems. 

b. Home health problems. 



PubUc Health 



(Prepared by Dr. W. D. Stovall, Director, State Laboratory 

of Hygiene.) 

I. Scope of WorTc. 

1. What is meant by Public Health work? 

2. What agencies are at work to carry out disease pre- 

vention work in this state, and what are they do- 
ing to apply in each community specific means for 
the prevention of disease. 
II. Need of Fublic Health. _ 

1. Prevalence of tuberculosis. 

2. Interstate migration of tuberculosis. 

3. Problem of charitable societies in the care of tuber- 

cular patients. 

4. Institutions for the care of tubercular patients. 

III. Accomplishments \of Public Health. 

1. Problems overcome in the eonstrnction of the Panama 

Canal. 

2. Eeduction of typhoid fever in civil and military life. 

3. Prevention and treatment of diphtheria, meningococ- 

cal meningitis, tetanus, rabies, and blindness due to 
gonococcus infection. 

4. Effect of malarial control by treating individuals, and 

mosquito eradication. 

5. Typhus fever control by delousing. 

IV. Communicahle Diseases. 

1. Why are certain diseases said to be communicable or 

contagious and what means can be taken to pre- 
vent their spread? 

2. Communicable disease control — information neces- 

sary concerning each disease. 

a. Infective agent. 

b. Source of infection. 

c. Mode of transmission. 

d. Incubation period. 

e. Period of eommunicability. 



— 29 — 



f. Methods of control. 

(1) The inflicted individual and his environ- 

ment. 

(a) Eecognition of disease. 

(b) Isolation. 

(c) Immunization. 

(d) Quarantine. 

(e) Concurrent disinfection. 

(f) Terminal disinfection. 

(2) General measures. 

(3) Epidemic measures. 

V. Organisation Necessary for Effective Disease Control. 

1. Health bureaus an integral part of national, state, 

and county governments. 

2. Centralization of health activities in those bureaus. 

3. Health bureaus organized to meet the demands ade- 

quately of improved methods for disease control. 

AID OFFERED 

In all the kinds of work suggested as appropriate for 
parent-teacher organizations to undertake, some outside 
help will be necessary. The Extension Division of the 
University of Wisconsin is equipped through its several 
bureaus to give assistance in a variety of ways, and this 
help is freely offered to any community or to any citi- 
zen of our state. Among the bureaus most useful for 
this purpose are the following: 

I. Department of Debating and Public Discussion, 
Miss Almere Scott, Secretary. 

This department is organized to serve individuals and 
various kinds of organizations in the state which are 
engaged in group study, public discussion, and forum 
teaching. 

This service is in the form of material on all sub- 
jects compiled from the most recent and authoritative 
sources by trained librarians. 

Cities and towns having public libraries can without 
doubt enlist the cooperation of librarians in securing 

— 30 — 



material for the discussion and study of the various 
subjects listed in this bulletin. Where this material is 
not available at the local library, or where there is no 
library, material on all the foregoing subjects will be 
lent to any resident of Wisconsin free of charge in the 
form of books and package libraries, upon application 
to the Department of Debating and Public Discussion, 
Extension Division, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 
Wisconsin. The purpose for which the package is 
needed should be definitely stated so that a judicious 
selection may be made. 

II. Bureau of Community Development, Professor 
Edgar B. Gordon, Chief. 

One of the most valuable services offered under the 
general direction of this bureau is that giten in con- 
nection with community music and drama. This bureau 
offers advice and direction free to any community in 
the state which is interested in the formation of musical 
or dramatic clubs ; it also lends plays and music suitable 
for the use of such clubs. The chief of the bureau has 
prepared a bulletin giving full and complete informa- 
tion and direction for the successful carrying on of such 
clubs, including a valuable bibliography of suitable ma- 
terial for them. This bulletin is sent upon request and 
without cost to any resident of the state. 

III. Bureau of Instruction by Lectures, R. B. Dun- 
can, Assistant Secretary. 

The Bureau of Instruction by Lectures provides in- 
struction and entertainment for the people of the state 
and it stimulates and reinforces the various other lines 
of activity carried on through the Extension Division. 
One very appropriate activity for a parent-teacher or- 
ganization might be the establishment of lecture and 
entertainment courses under the direction of this bureau. 

— 31 — 



IV. Bureau of Visual Instruction, W. H. Dudley, 
Chief. 

The Bureau of Visual Instruction, through its printed 
lectures, stereopticon slides, and moving picture films 
dealing with a great variety of subjects of interest to 
parents as well as to children and young people, is 
another agency which if utilized will be of the utmost 
service to parent-teacher associations. 

The services of this bureau are of value not only for 
entertainment and instruction but the use of slides and 
films gives an opportunity also for the raising of funds 
for local needs, since a small admission fee can appro- 
priately be charged for these entertainments. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The following list of references on Parent-teacher As- 
sociations has been prepared by the Department of De- 
bating and Public Discussion, Extension Division. The 
list comprises all the latest material on this subject and 
covers practically all phases of parent-teacher activity. 
All the material listed may be borrowed from this de- 
partment if it cannot be found in local libraries. 

Andrews, F. F. Parents' associations and the public schools. 
Charities and Commons, pp. 335-43, November 24, 1906. 

Bradt, Mrs. Samuel E. Ell wood school parent-teacher association. 
School and Home Education, pp. 189-90, February, 1916. 

Bright, Mrs. Orville T. Parent-teacher association — A link be- 
tween home and school. School News and Practical Educator, 
pp. 53-4, October, 1913. 

Suggestions as to aim and methods in the parent-teacher 



associations. School and Home Education, pp. 222-223, Feb- 
ruary, 1915. 

Butler, Nathaniel. Parents' association. School Eeview, pp. 78- 
88, February, 1908. 

— 32 — 



Childe, Elizabeth. Parents and education. Outlook, pp. 539-541, 
March 3, 1915. 

Child-Welfare Magazine. Official organ of the National Congress 
of Mothers and Parent-teacher associations. Published at 41 
North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pa. 

Churchill, J. A. Parent-teacher associations in the rural and vil- 
lage schools of Oregon, 1915. Issued by J, A. Churchill, Su- 
perintendent of Public Instruction, Salem, Ore. 

Community welfare program for women's clubs and parent-teacher 
associations. Bulletin of the Extension Division, Indiana 
University, Bloomington, Ind., Vol. I, No. 10, June, 1916. 

Denison, Elsa. Organizations solely for helping schools — organ- 
ized parents. In her Helping School Children — suggestions 
for efficient cooperation with the public schools. Ch. 6, pp. 
115-123, 1912. New York, N. Y., Harper and Brothers. 

Ensign, F. C. Parent- teacher associations in Iowa. 1918, Uni- 
versity of Iowa. Paper 10c. ^ 

Fleming, Florence S. Parent-teacher associations from the stand- 
point of a parent. School and Home Education, pp. 148-9, 
December, 1914. 

Grice, Mary Van Meter. Home and school. Christopher Sower 
Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Price, 60e. 

Griswold, Sarah E. The rise of the P. T. A. The purpose and 
spirit of parent-teacher association. School and Home Edu 
cation, pp. 301-3, April, 1915. 

Hefferan, Mrs. H. M. Notes from parents' associations. Ele- 
mentary School Teacher, pp. 372-5, February, 1905. 

House Beautiful. Parent-teacher clubs, p. 233, March, 1917. 

Keeler, Edith Nelson. A successful parent-teacher association. 
Educational Bimonthly, pp. 26-30, October, 1916. 

King, Irving. The social relations of home and school. In his 
Social Aspects of Education. Ch. 4. Contains bibliography 
on home and school, 1912. New York, N. Y., Macmillan Co. 

Langworthy, Mrs. B. F. The parent-teacher association — a school 
for parents. School and Home Education, November, 1915. 

— 33 — 



McKeever, William A. Home and school cooperation. The par- 
ent-teacher association. In his The Industrial Training of the 
Girl. Ch. 4, pp. 37-45, 1914, New York, N. Y., Macmillan Co. 

National Congress of Mothers and Parent-teacher associations. 
Child welfare in home, school, church, and state. What prom- 
inent educators think of the movement. National Congress 
of Mothers and Parent-teacher Associations, 906 Loan and 
■ Trust Building, Washington, D. C. 

Perry, Clarence Arthur. Eecreation the basis of association be- 
tween parents and teachers, 1911. No. 87. Department of 
Child Hygiene of the Eussell Sage Foundation, 400 Metro- 
politan Tower, New York, N. Y. 

Philips, W. L. Urban home and school league. Annals of the 
American Academy of Political and Social Science, pp. 148- 
55, September, 1916. 

Rankin, Janet R. Suggestive studies of school conditions. An 
outline of study in school problems for women's clubs, par- 
ent-teacher associations, and community organizations, 1916. 
Issued by 0. P. Cary, State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, Madison, Wis. 

Schoff, Mrs. F. National congress of mothers and parent-teacher 
associations. Annals of the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science, pp. 139-47, September, 1916. 

Shieves, R. M. Parent-teacher associations and their workings. 
Wyoming School Journal, pp. 264-266, May-June, 1915. 

Simms, Edna Lynn. Rural parent-teacher associations. Mother's 
Magazine, p. 37, June, 1915. 

U. S. Bureau of Education. List of references on mothers' clubs 
and parent-teacher associations, June, 1914. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 

U. S. Bureau of Education — Report of Commissioner of Education, 
pp. 297-301, 1916. 

Wagner, Charles A. Parent -teacher associations. Journal of Edu- 
cation, pp. 397-8, October 28, 1915. 

. Parent-teacher handbook, September, 1915. Commis- 
sioner of Education, Delaware. 

— 34 — 



\ 



Wilder, Georgene H, Private matters and public discussion. 
School and Home Education, pp. 111-112, December, 1916. 

Wilson, Elizabeth Kissick. Parent-teacher associations — a means 
of solving problems. School and Home Education, pp. 332- 
334, May, 1915. 

Worrell, E. R. When parents and teachers get together. Ladies' 
Home Journal, p. 58, October, 1919. 

Young, Mrs. William F. High School parent-teacher associations. 
School and Home Education, pp. 250-1, March, 1915. 

' ^ '\ 

] Periodicals Listed 

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 

^^-'hiladelphia. Pa. 
Charities and Commons, now Survey, E. T. Devine, 105 East 

Twenty-Second Street, New York, IST. Y. 
Educational Bimonthly, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, HI. 
Elenjentary School Teacher, University of Chicago Pre(p, Chicago, 

House Beautiful, 41 Mt. Vernon St., Boston, Mass. 

Jonnial of Education, N. E. Publishing Co., 29A, Beacon Street, 

Boston, Mass. 
Ladiiss^ Home Journal, Curtis Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Motfcter's Magazine, D. C. Cook Publishing Co., Elgin, HI. 
Outlbok, Outlook Co., 287 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 
School and Home Education, Public School Publishing Co., Bloom- 

ington, HI. 
School News and Practical Educator, C. M. Parker, Taylorville, HI. 
School Eeview, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, HI. 
Wyoming School Journal, Laramie, Wyo. 



^ 



35 — 



019 605 228 8 • 

GUIDED STUDY OUTLINES F^k ^.i^wi^^ ,._ 

'^ 

These outlines carry with them, first, the privilege of 
direction, guidance, and assistance by the professor or 
instructor who has outlined the work; and second, the 
opportunity of at least one lecture, and in many cases 
a series of lectures given by the same person. 

By this method of informal correspondence not only 
is valuable time saved, but the studies become mach 
more effective and interesting. It establishes a close 
practical connection between any group of citizens in 
any part of the state, organized for serious purposes, 
and the state university. 

The cost of an outline with all privileges of guidance, 
assistance, and answers to questions is merely nominal. 
The cost of the lectures varies slightly with the indi- 
vidual lecturers. 

Parent-teacher organizations will be especially inter- | 
. ested in two of these series of club study outlines. One 
is in the field of education and deals with the training 
of children and youth; the other is in the field of home 
economics and treats of household management,* the 
preparation of foods, and the care of children in health 
and in disease. 

Correspondence relative to these directed study out- 
lines is solicited. 



BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OE WISCONSIN 
March, 1920 

Issued monthly by the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, Wis. 

Entered as second-class matter, July 11, 1916, at the postoffice at 

Madison, Wis., under the Act of August 24, 1912. 



36 — 



